The Boy Scouts of America’s decision to allow girls into the program has spurred mixed reviews, which is expected for a national organization with diverse views among its members. Many parties, like some feminists and women’s groups, have praised BSA, while others, like former scouts, have said they’re concerned for the organization’s future.

As an Eagle Scout, I’m happy to allow girls into the same program that has changed my life for the better. But I also had my reservations about the change.

For someone who has never been in the program, the change is as simple as dropping the “boy” in Boy Scouts. But there’s more to it.

I became an Eagle Scout on my 17th birthday and have gone through every step of the organization. I also spent three amazing summers working at one of the country’s best scouting summer camps. I’ve gotten to know the inner workings of the program and what it takes to run a troop.

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The BSA is divided into multiple programs. In Cub Scouts, first through fourth graders learn what scouting is about. In the main Boy Scout program, boys ages 11-18 learn leadership skills in nature and in practice with the goal of becoming an Eagle Scout. And in Venture scouting, 14- to 21-year-olds take part in advanced activities geared toward developing youth leaders into responsible adults.

The Boy Scouts have experience when it comes to including girls and women in their program. All divisions of scouting allow female adult leaders, and girls can become a Venture scout at age 14.

But a Venture scout can only become an Eagle Scout if they attained the rank of first class in their scout troop prior to joining. This meant girls could not become Eagle Scouts. Many girls thought this rule was discriminatory, and some have sued the Boy Scouts to join.

This mounting pressure forced the BSA to make their fourth major membership policy change in five years. Since 2013, the BSA has gradually allowed gay and transgender scouts as well as gay leaders to join. However, the BSA put in a caveat allowing the chartered organization to which a troop was assigned to accept or reject members allowed under the new policies.

This decision is important and, in some ways, has saved the scouting movement. It allows organizations such as the Mormon and Catholic churches to have their say in membership while also allowing their current members to stay in scouting.

Starting next year, Cub Scout organizations, known as Packs, can begin to allow girls into all-women Dens. Then, beginning in 2019, an entirely separate program will spin off for the girls, who will be able to become Eagle Scouts.

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It’s important that these groups stay separate. Gender-specific programs can plan activities each group prefers, allowing membership to continuously rise.

“In the long run, it’s almost inefficient to be completely integrated into the Boy Scouts,” said Jessica Wooding, a former Girl Scout and a sophomore at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Developing a separate program is not discrimination; it’s proactively developing a program that allows the BSA to survive for differing genders. And if girls realize how much more they’ll learn from Boy Scouts, Girl Scout membership could drop and perhaps cause the organizations to merge.

“If there was a separate troop for girls in the Boy Scouts so they could do almost exactly what the boys would do, then that would be better than doing a co-ed troop,” Wooding said.

Having worked with international scouts in Indonesia and the Dominican Republic, I can see how this is a power move by the BSA. International Boy Scout groups have included girls for years, to the point where the Girl Scouts organization is nearly irrelevant in those countries.

After all, Girl Scouts in America are not given the same respect or opportunities for leadership development as the BSA.

“As a Girl Scout,” Wooding said, “I would only get asked, ‘When are you selling cookies?’ I was never asked, ‘Oh, what do you do? What skills do you learn?’ No one ever took us seriously.”

Those girls missed out on the camping experiences one can only get through the BSA. My summer camp featured activities including sailing, wilderness survival and shotgun shooting. But Wooding said she didn’t learn those skills.

The biggest concern among former scouters has been the safety of the girls involved. The BSA has a long and torturous history of pedophilia among adult leaders from the 1960s through the early ‘80s.

Even though those numbers dropped after the BSA introduced safeguards, girls in the BSA need specific rules to stay safe. If co-ed troops are allowed, a scout troop would have to reserve multiple campsites to protect the boys and the girls.

As long as the two girls and boys have separate, individual programs for the time being, allowing girls in the BSA will be one of the best decisions the organization has made. I am looking forward to working with the future women leaders of the world and I can’t wait for the first female Eagle Scout.

If we prioritize safety while raising another generation to follow the Scout Oath and Law, we will train young men and women to “Be Prepared” for whatever lies ahead.

Jefferson Fenner is a sophomore broadcast journalism major and political science minor. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at jfenner@syr.edu or on Twitter @jeffersonfenner.

This column takes one side on the debate over whether girls should be allowed in the Boy Scouts. You can read another perspective here.

Published on October 19, 2017 at 12:32 am